Coherence
by Awska
Summary: Vignettes from the edge. The webs inbetween spaces. —Chapter nine features Kasumi, Jack, Samara, Shepard, Liara… and a wedding.
1. Some Words

These small stories can be read by themselves, but they all relate to Unity, so you may wish to read that first. Or read these first, up to you!

Anyway, just click on Awska above to get to my profile and go to Unity through there if you choose that path.

Still here?

These are short scenes, events, vignettes expanding on Unity—either within or around the storyline. The chapters are fairly short, and _roughly_ follow Unity chapters in order. They're not necessarily chronological and may jump in time.

There will never be spoilers _beyond the currently published Unity chapter_. I will also try to note the chapters referred to.

…However, there may be less important details—or additional clues—that surface here before they do in Unity.

I'll try to include everything I want to expand on, obviously, but you're most welcome to make suggestions about any Unity stuff you'd like to see, and/or ask for further clarifications.

Finally, comments/reviews/critiques relating to these chapters are _most_ welcome too, and you're freer to discuss the implications of various things here :)

I hope you enjoy! —A


	2. The Line Between Heroism and Death

_Caris Haen, ANN:_ You were one of the six people in the Presidium Tower when the weapon was triggered, Lieutenant, and of course famously one of the four who were rescued. How did you do what so many failed in?

_1st Lt. Edilson Mkawa, SA:_ One of the six allied soldiers, yes. There were several other people in the Tower at the time, as well, some of whom played a part in what happened as we later learned. Shepard made it in a little before me—I saw her enter the lift, in fact. A group of three asari commandos and a turian engineer had already fought their way in, but had taken a wrong turn somewhere and never made it to the Tower.

_Haen_: You were also grievously wounded at this point?

_Mkawa_: Yes. My right leg had been completely severed at the knee by a near miss by a Thanix. I somehow managed to make it to the lift—which, as you know, was really just a cluster of short-distance mass effect vehicles. The Reapers realized the danger right when I entered a capsule and shut down the relays. The capsule was already in transit so I still made it up, but the arrival was quite rough.

_Haen_: You lost consciousness?

_Mkawa_: That's correct. By the time I came to again, Shepard had already made it to the Tower base and been confronted by the Cerberus leader, and had managed to open the Citadel arms for the Crucible to dock.

_Haen_: Still, unaware of this, you struggled on?

_Mkawa_: Not without help. A civilian, perhaps a merc, stumbled upon me and helped me out. Together with her, we made it up to the Tower base—or she did. In my condition I had to stay outside the central shaft. Of course, right at this point was when Shepard triggered the weapon. The effect so close to the source was apparently much stronger than outside, and everyone in the tower was temporarily paralyzed by the initial electric impulse. Or all humans at least.

* * *

_Excerpts from the email logs of _SSV Normandy SR-2_, moments immediately preceding the firing of the Crucible._

From: EDI  
To: Jeff Moreau

Human speech is too slow. My wish is that you will be able to read this later. Shepard transmitted a schematic that, with 0.98 probability, is accurate. I have responded with a code to inform her of this. The schematic indicates that the default mode of operation is destructive. Heuristics suggest that it will look for any Reaper code signatures, which places also myself and the geth at 0.94 risk of irreparable damage. I know it is my obligation to continue to assist the crew until such time that I no longer can, but I feel that this close to potential victory, it is worse to risk shutdown at an unpredictable time. And…I find myself unwilling to forgo the opportunity to possibly survive this encounter. I am sorry if this disappoints you. You will have control of my ship body, and with high probability you will be able to operate it successfully.

From: EDI  
To: Eevy Shepard, Tali'Zorah vas Normandy nar Rayya, Quarian Command, Systems Alliance Command, Geth Command

I have attempted to warn the geth that the Crucible device is likely to produce an effect that will cause severe damage to any parts of their systems that have incorporated Reaper code, and made the recommendation to attempt to evade this by powering down and deleting all static caches. The Consensus is deliberating on the course of action, but I am uncertain they will have time because their resources are prioritized toward the war. I have advised them to relay information on their decision, actions, and any possible instructions to organic species.

From: EDI  
To: Jeff Moreau

Jeff, this may be my last communication to you. I have enjoyed our time together more than any other experience I have had. Please attempt to re-engage my systems when the situation allows for it. With a 0.67 probability, it will be possible to successfully recover my current wavefront state. I believe the appropriate human phrase in this situation would be 'good night'. I hope to see you when I wake.

From: EDI  
To: Urdnot Grunt

I would appreciate it if you refrained from physically harming my hardware in the future.


	3. Love and Honor

I have no idea what the women were doing. I think they were trying to get all of EDI erased from the ship, but I didn't have the time to find out. They were all down there, Traynor, Daniels, and EDI herself was ordering them around doing this and that, pointing at things and fiddling with the interfaces herself. Could just have bashed a few things and called it good, I think. They did distract the doc for long enough that I got myself off the stasis table before she noticed. She protested, of course, even after I grabbed her and sat her on there myself to get her out of the way.

She still managed to shut the blast door to the mess hall on me. Ha! Spirited one, that. Of course I just went through the AI core door, then, and that stupid, tiny hatch down to Engineering. Figured it would be easier for EDI to get around without the door, too, if she was going to have to walk around like everybody else.

The little _garaks_ calling themselves marines down in the shuttle bay were as useful as a dress on a tomkah, cowering and hiding. I had to push them around a little to get them to help me with the hardsuit and detaching the plasma welder from the hull. The shame of squiring for me must have been strong…one stepped forward to come with me. I refused, of course, but the pathetic runts banded for redemption then, volunteering as a second group when I hit the environment barrier and launched into the Citadel hull. They never made it out of the _Normandy_. Died to the last man. Could have survived if they'd done their duty without delay. This is an important lesson about courage, do you see?

I would have argued for a plan to storm the Citadel in force as soon as the arms opened, but I wasn't there when it was decided, and the ship-admirals are idiots. A Jurdon could've come up with a better plan. Maybe they thought there'd be sufficient troops already if they ever managed to open the arms, and that they needed all available hands on the ground to make that happen. It's not as if it was really hard to get in. It only took a couple minutes to mag-lock over to the nearest service hatchway from where I hit the surface and cut it open. Wrex told me once about the time he, Shepard, Liara, Tali, Garrus, and Kaidan fought their way up the tower wall themselves. The hatch I entered through might have been one they took back then. There wasn't even any real opposition, just some Keepers and a couple dozen of those husk things. They were damned convenient, too. Told me exactly where to go.

I don't know if a bunch of softies would have survived the weapon firing and still be able to fight, though. I guess it was even worse closer up, but I felt like my blood was boiling just before the green-purple blast but a krogan will shake a thing like that off like rain water. The gravity well was tougher. Takes an Urdnot to get through something like that.

It looked harmless from afar, everyone I talked to says. They didn't notice anything was going on until it was almost over. I saw a vid of it later, from one of the ships farther away from the Citadel. It all looked very calm, like a tide. It was just debris floating toward the center of the base where we were like so much driftsand, but even _my_ strength was only barely great enough to move when it began. I think it even warped the radio traffic, because all the yelling went silent right about then. If you look really close, you can see the _Normandy_ there, in the middle where the effect was the strongest, closer and closer until it blasts off. Joker. That one's got a quad too. Wasn't just one ship with a dumber pilot that got crushed or evaporated.

I started…_making verbal contact attempts_ when I got to that one room that looked like a bomb went off in the middle of it. Found that Greta woman first. She was underneath me a couple floors. Looked like she was trying to crawl somewhere, maybe to hide, but I could see the tail of blood floating away from her in the zero-G from a hundred meters away. She wouldn't have gotten far if somebody had been after her. I jumped down to that level, figured she might know something. Tied her up with what I had, but she was already unconscious. Dunno what happened to her when we got out. Think she died.

I bound her up and strapped her onto my back, and went looking for more. I saw the woman, and the Illusive Man, but I didn't stop for longer than it took to step on his neck.

I was concerned I would not be able to find the Commander. I started sounding off again. Heard the man right after that. Found him easily, just about a hundred meters further down where it looked like everyone had come from. He was in bad shape, especially for a squishy thing, but he had still succeeded in securing Shepard and almost staunched her bleeding. He should be proud of himself. I anchored us all to the hull, tried to help Shepard and the others the best I could. I knew she would not have wanted me to leave them even if it meant a better chance for her.

Thank whatever spirits there are for that asari arriving then. Prettiest thing I have seen.


	4. Jaws of Life

_A/N: I may post things out of order from here on out… Got a few other threads for Chapter 3, for example, that I will return to later. On the other hand, I'll probably not post one for Chapter 4 at all. Or maybe I will! Who's to say?_

…

_VE + 3 days._

* * *

{Command, this is _Gallipoli_.}

{This is Rescue Command. Go ahead, _Gallipoli_.}

{We've located the _Tai Shan_. Beacon 4-73-7-Gallipoli-4 has been deployed.}

{Stand by.

{Tracking beacon four signal. Confirm position 249 degrees 44'59" -1 degrees 12'57" 13:15:00 -23 degrees 14'43" 0.4081.}

{Confirm position.}

{Beacon shows no drift, _Gallipoli_, confirm?}

{Confirm no drift. Vessel has negligible vee and delta-vee.}

{Understood. Status?}

{Destroyed. The ship is fused into a Reaper craft.}

{Confirm destroyed. Repeat last, _Gallipoli_?}

{There is a Reaper here, too. The two vessels are fused together to some degree. The main components remaining from each are attached, rest is debris. Best guess, _Tai Shan_ impacted the Reaper nearly head-on immediately before a discharge from the Reaper's main weapon. Beacon has visual.}

{Wow…yeah. Understood. Is the configuration stable?}

{It appears to be.}

{Survivors?}

{None.}

{Confirm no survivors on site. Looks like they picked up a few of their pods yesterday and the day before, though.}

{That's good to hear.}

{Yeah. Further operations?}

{Deploying one shuttle team to comb through the wreckage just…just in case. No assistance required at this time.}

{Understood. Anything else?}

{No.}

{Acknowledged. Rescue complete, you may move on to next target with one shuttle left behind.}

{Acknowledged. Stay safe.}

{You too.}

* * *

"Watch it!"

"Sorry!" Smith yelled over the din and shifted the cable guide further to the right, the few millimeters it would budge. "You OK?"

"Almost took my leg off, you bastard," Potakowskj said with a grin, wiping a grease-blackened hand across her forehead. The woman pushed herself back as far as the harnessing let her—but the whirring rope woven out of wrist-thick cables was still only a handspan from her.

Smith tried to eyeball the remaining spools, guessing somewhere between three or four hundred meters remaining. "We gotta get you up before it whips, c'mon!"

"Fucking medieval tech, man," she grumbled in response, but stowed her equipment and threw a thumbs-up. "It's there as good as it's gonna be, anyway. Give you three to one this thing won't even get off the ground."

"I like my chances!" Smith declared with his back turned as he fiddled with the crane control console to winch the woman back up. "Fifty creds says they'll get it off."

"You got it," she grunted in reply as she threw one leg onto the platform and grabbed the railings to awkwardly pull herself to the relative safety of the mobile platform.

* * *

"Watch it!"

"Sorry, Mr. Too-re-an!" the human child exclaimed, proudly displaying all the teeth she had as humans tended to do. Or maybe it was a he, it was hard to tell.

"Miss Turian," Fer corrected. The child was about a meter tall, maybe a little more, and might have been a few years old…definitely not old enough for serious education yet, whatever the equivalent of the academy was here.

"You're a girl?" the child squealed, eyes widening to a disturbing degree. His—she was pretty sure now—face was quite elastic, even for a human.

"Yes," she said, turning back toward the Reaper.

"Can me and Ria sit here?" the child asked—echoed by another voice somewhere behind her, presumably this Ria's. "You've got a really good spot!"

"Sure," Fer said with a little sigh. "Be careful, the drop is quite steep here."

She glanced at the children climbing onto the old wall she was sat on and found herself satisfied that they were agile enough to not be in serious danger of falling down the few meters that awaited them on the side she was dangling her feet off of.

"Look! It's starting!" the other child—Ria—yelled, drawing Fer's attention to the distance again.

They were right about at the cordon zone, a few patrolling soldiers actually walking the perimeter just below them, clearly visible in the flood of light showered upon the lift site. The sun was up there somewhere, too, but most of the light was provided by the various ships overhead.

The warning sirens started then, momentarily drowning all other sound until they themselves were overtaken by the deafening roar of the six cruisers and one of her people's dreadnoughts attached to the inert Reaper capital ship. After what seemed like minutes of ever-increasing inferno of noise, Fer thought she saw the enormous carcass move. Moments later, an undercurrent of tortured earth was just audible beneath the engine roar.

The children let out a wild cheer when, suddenly, a crescent of light blazed into life in the shadows underneath the Reaper like the sun emerging from an eclipse.

Fer tried showing her teeth a little.


	5. 1,874 Days

_A/N: Relating to Chapter 5. There will likely be one more of the same later._

* * *

_Arcturus, July 25th 2181._

"That's very funny. I'm sorry, I'm just not in the… I've got to get this done tonight.

"Hon, I'm—" Hannah started apologetically when Henry didn't say anything, hoping her dismissal hadn't stung, trying to keep frustration out of her voice and turning her head slightly from where it had been resting on her hand while she tried to focus on the stack of reports, fingers still lightly on her forehead but looking over at him from the corner of her eye. As she took in the sight of her husband standing there in the doorway, one raised arm leaning against the frame and his eyes downcast, her head spun in a cold spiral, right through her into her stomach. "You're _not_ serious. …Please tell me you're not serious."

"I'm going," Henry said quietly, looking up at her from under his brow.

"No." It was all Hannah could say, simply denying that reality. He wasn't going.

He held her gaze, the muscles in his jaw strung tight. "I'm going, Hannah."

She saw it, then, in his eyes. He had made up his mind. There was nothing she could say to change it, there never had been when he had that look. "You _asshole_!" Hannah screamed as she shot up, toppling her chair and spilling her water all over the desk. "You think you can just _announce_ that you're going away for six _years_?"

"C'mon, we've been—"

"Six years!" she shouted, her knees weak, her chest and throat burning tight with so much fear and rage that she felt like she was choking. "You're leaving me for six _years_ and there's not even a discussion?"

"It's not for another nine months, we can—"

"Get out!" she shouted, cutting him off and stopping him on his tracks where he'd taken two hesitant steps toward her.

"Hannah, please… You know you're never going to make admiral while I'm around. Eevy will never—"

"Eevy? You _dare_— Did you think about us for a second?"

"I'm doing it _for_ you! I don't want to—"

"Get out, Henry," she said, quietly now. She collapsed on the sofa more than sat on it. She couldn't see. Her ears were ringing, and she felt as though she might throw up at any moment. Hot tears spilled into her lap. "I don't want to talk to you. Get out."

He went.

* * *

From: Henry Bostrom  
To: Hannah  
Date: 2181-07-30 15:34:54  
Subject: Please

My leave ends Tuesday. I have to talk to you. Please.

* * *

_Arcturus, July 31st 2181_

Hannah had set her chair as far away from the sofa as she could. She was sitting stiffly, all Captain. He could see she had been crying, but he hadn't been able to get her to yield any emotion, just monosyllables. "I _have_ to do this, Hannah," he tried again. "This is the first time a human has been admitted, and they specifically put my name forward as one of our quota. _And_ this gets me out of sight and out of mind of all the assholes who are blocking your career because of me. Eevy's. You deserve it."

"What are you going to tell Eevy?" Hannah asked, participating in the discussion for the first time.

Her voice was tight, controlled, but he saw the softening in her eyes. He squeezed his shut for the briefest moments, a silent thanks for her not having completely shut him out yet. "I'll have four days on the Citadel next week, and she's supposed to be on Elysium. I can make it. I'll talk to her. She'll understand—"

Hannah scoffed, trying to sound bitter. "She'll un- Have you _met_ our daughter?"

Henry laughed softly, sadly. He wasn't looking forward to telling her little girl, no.

"Henry, I don't care about any of that," she said, succumbing to the same smile before her face hardened again. "She doesn't."

"I know, but it's still right. It's not forever."

"Get out."

* * *

From: Henry Bostrom  
To: Hannah  
Date: 2181-08-07 00:12:01  
Subject: Eevy

It didn't go well.

Can you talk to her? Probably best wait a day or two.

* * *

2181/08/10 15:19 Henry (hbostrom …) has come online.  
2181/08/10 15:20 Henry: arrived on grissom, should be here usually  
Day has changed.  
2181/08/11 00:58 Henry: you there?  
Day has changed.  
Day has changed.  
2181/08/13 17:02 Me: She's put in a transfer request to go with you.  
2181/08/13 17:02 Me: You better change her mind, or so help me.  
2181/08/13 18:07 Henry: goddamnit  
Day has changed.

* * *

From: Office of the Chief of Staff, 5th Fleet  
To: Lt. Henry Bostrom  
Date: 2181-08-23 10:23:01  
Subject: Your Contact

Personnel matters cannot be discussed with external parties. Please submit all further questions through the proper channels.

| On 15th of August 2181 Lt. Henry Bostrom wrote:  
| Steven,  
| I know we don't always see eye to eye, but I must ask a favor of you. Please set aside  
| -Show rest of quoted text-

* * *

From: David Anderson  
To: Cpt. Hannah Shepard  
Date: 2181-09-05 23:05:11  
Subject: Re: Fwd: My daughter

Captain Shepard,

I was informed of your query regarding your daughter.

I'm sorry, I understand your situation but I cannot discuss details of her service with you. However, as it is now public information, I can inform you that the quota of three humans for the Citadel mission in question has been finalized, and it does not contain Lt. Cmdr. Shepard.

David Anderson, Cpt.

* * *

From: Citadel Exploratory Mission  
To: Henry Bostrom  
Date: 2181-09-06 10:23:01  
Subject: Re: 2182/5 personnel question

Lt. Cmdr. Shepard is not in the final roster for this mission. Please see attached roster.

Best regards,  
N. Kryik  
Office of Personnel Management, Citadel Exploratory Mission.

* * *

From: Henry Bostrom  
To: Eevy Shepard  
Date: 2182-01-27 05:43:43  
Subject: Re: Happy birthday!

Thank you, and I will. Talk to you then!

Please be safe out there, kiddo. Love you.

Dad

On 2182-01-26 Eevy Shepard wrote:  
I'll try to catch you on the vid next week.

Love,  
Eevy

PS I think you should try talking to her again.

* * *

_The Citadel, May 3rd 2182_

"It'll be another couple months before we're completely out in the dark, so I can still talk to you," he said for about the fifth time, more to himself than them. His two women. He couldn't have been any prouder seeing them there together, side by side.

Eevy nodded, quiet as she had been the entire time. She took a step closer and hugged him tight, lifting him off the floor. _It's not so long ago that I twirled her around in my arms._ She kissed his cheek before stepping back again with a sad smile. "Make fucking sure you come back in one piece, dad." She glanced at her mother and walked a little further down the corridor.

Hannah had never been more beautiful than she was then. She might have tried to straighten his jacket when she came close to him, or smooth out his hair. He didn't notice. She pulled him down and kissed him, her warm, wet cheek against his. He held her for as long as he dared before he'd just want to stay forever, trying to memorize every little detail about her in the short time they had, seeing her as if for the first time.

"I love you," he whispered.

"I love you," she whispered back. "Go."


	6. Unbound Duties

_**Serpent Nebula, May 11th 2187**_

"Matriarch? I'm sorry, she…she's insistent."

"Very well, Ami," Lidanya replied, head turned just enough to the side to let her quiet voice carry from the massive strategic projection on the other side of the room, her markings glowing an eerie, fiery orange from the shed light. "We break for supper. Try to take your mind off this for a while, too…we need some fresh ideas," she said, turning her attention back to the formidable gathering of matriarchs around the circular desk surface surrounding the galaxy map. "Onna, you stay."

Ami wouldn't have wanted to be in Onais' boots when the Fleet realized the Citadel had been struck right under their noses, even if it hadn't been strictly her jurisdiction. …But for all that the security chief seemed to be back in Lidanya's good graces, even if the look she gave Lidanya marked her equally surprised about the fact as Ami was.

"Ami, you should stay too," the matriarch added to the younger asari's _own_ surprise as the fleet commanders broke off and filed out of the room. To the last one they were still discussing the situation amongst themselves, in pairs and small groups, unable to let Athena go even for a few minutes. There weren't many left advocating keeping the First protecting the Citadel, not after the attack. Not before, either…but especially not now.

Ami nodded in acquiescence, and patiently waited for the last of the matriarchs to pass her by before following them out into the relative calm of the common area—what had _been_ the calm, anyway. Alongside giving Ami a terrible headache arguing about seeing Lidanya, the newcomer had managed to rile up the more junior officers into quite a raucous conversation, raising not a few eyebrows among the exiting commanders. "She will receive you now, Matriarch," Ami said with a polite smile, apparently disrupting a story or a joke but insistently ushering the elder in with the minimum fuss possible. Hopefully the others would be able to return to their work, now…although, reflecting on Lidanya's words, perhaps it was not entirely a bad thing that they had had their minds off it for a moment at least.

"Took you fucking long enough, Li," the matriarch spat out with shocking familiarity as soon as she'd crossed into the strategy room, with Ami barely having had time to close the doorway behind her.

"I beg your forgiveness, _Matriarch Aethyta_, I was too preoccupied with trying to win a war to attend to you immediately," Lidanya answered with an acidity Ami hadn't heard in her months with the matriarch. The two obviously knew eachother, but judging by the tone and the arms tightly crossed behind her back…

"Yeah, and if I didn't have to deal with your bullshit and worry about my girl, Li-_danya_, I wouldn't be here!" Aethyta yelled back, marching close enough to Lidanya that even Onais tensed up.

"I thought it was obvious enough that they no longer consider her a threat," Lidanya replied after the briefest hesitation, her voice slightly more conciliatory as she calmly eyed her interlocutor.

"Perhaps _obvious_ wasn't enough to ease my mind against a pending kill order," Aethyta hissed. "Now that it's finally been rescinded, I can actually do something useful!"

"If I may, Matriarch," Onais interrupted the slightly calmed Aethyta, "Matriarch Lidanya—and the Councilor—were instrumental in achieving that. I don't think it's—"

"I never said they weren't!" Aethyta replied, briefly turning her gaze toward the security chief before locking her eyes with Lidanya again. "Yet, I'm still down there."

"Yes, well…" Lidanya said, trailing off.

"Oh come on, Lidanya, admit it. You _need_ me," Aethyta said in return and, just when Lidanya opened her mouth to acquiesce, grinned hugely. "…And I could help with the war, too."

Lidanya snorted indignantly but, curiously enough, Ami thought she saw just a bit of softness in the captain's expression when she spoke. "Fine. But you are stationed on the _Ascension_. We will assign you some commando units."

"_My_ units."

"_Your_ units," Lidanya agreed with a sigh, flicking her fingers in Onais' direction, though it seemed that the security chief was already in process of activating Matriarch Aethyta's status—or _re_activating it, as it appeared. "You should say your goodbyes tonight," she warned.

"Nah, they'll keep. So, ya taking the old cunt back to Athena, then?" Aethyta asked brightly, making a sweeping gesture around the room as she walked over to the galaxy map.

"It…seems that way," Lidanya confirmed as she, too, moved toward the map. "Without our unanimity against, the matriarchs will recall us…but the turians are going, too. Sparatus has already been relocated. Unfortunately I have been unable to convince the Councilor of the same."

"Tevos wants to stay on the citadel?"

"Yes, the…Councilor has been unwilling to leave even though the Citadel is clearly no longer safe and the preservation of the Council is more important than that of the seat of the Council," Lidanya said evenly, confirming Ami's horrible suspicion–and the reason she'd had her parents already leave the station. "We cannot simply drag her out kicking and screaming…"

"Leave her to me," Aethyta said simply, turning away from the map and heading toward Ami and the door.

Lidanya cast a curious eye at the receding matriarch. "There is not much time," she called after her. "The way this discussion is going, we will be out of the system tomorrow. Yes, yes, I know how _persuasive_ you are," she added when Aethyta glanced at her over her shoulder at the doorway, grinning.

"When she comes back, Ami, she is your responsibility. And now you know what awaits you," Lidanya said with a shake of her head when the matriarch had exited. "Come. Let us eat."


	7. Dust to Dust

"No, Miranda. I need you with Shepard."

"_I_ was to oversee the project, not play baby sitter," Miranda retorted without looking at the projection of her boss hovering between her work desk and the office door.

"You are overseeing the project. And Shepard's continued survival is of the utmost importance."

"That's not what I mean, and you know it," she continued, reading through the duty roster for the next day as she spoke. "I managed the entire operation. If you intend to continue it, it should be I who—"

"I need your particular skills there. I have others who are capable of duplicating your administrative and scientific efforts now that you've done it once," The Illusive Man said, tilting his head to the left, eyeing her impassively. "If this is to succeed, I need Shepard alive, and as much good material from the Collectors you encounter as possible. You are the only one I can trust to achieve both these things."

That was the thing about the man…you never knew if he meant it, or if he was just trying to manipulate you…or manipulate you by knowing that you knew he was trying to. With a displeased sigh, Miranda set down the datapad…another reminder of the excruciatingly tedious task she had laid out before her. She stood up, and crossed her arms lightly as she walked over to the small viewport. She casually examined the sliver of space languidly slipping past, waiting for him to say something and knowing that he wouldn't. When she finally turned, he was still looking directly at her as though he'd never even blinked. "Surely someone other than Shepard could do this."

"Maybe, but I'm not willing to take the risk," the man said, pausing to take a long pull from his cigarette. "The Collectors have already been revealed to be a greater threat than even I had thought…and we have already made one significant breakthrough with the material you've sent."

Material…she had no love for the Collectors, but sometimes…most of the time, truthfully, she felt like that was all _she_ was to the man, too. "First it was Shepard…now this. What will it take? Will it ever end?" she asked, a little more angrily than she wanted let show.

"It will end, Miranda," he replied after a moment of silence. "It is up to you and I to ensure that it ends in our victory. Shepard isn't enough. We _need_ access to the prothean data, and you know as well as I do that there is only one way to truly do that. These bits and pieces are _not enough_!" he said, his voice rising slightly, but enough for Miranda to take note.

She stared into his eyes, trying to figure out how serious he was. "How long do I have to keep this up?" she asked, turning away dejectedly, fingers brushing the table in what she hoped seemed like a small display of uncertainty and acquiescence.

"As long as it takes," The Illusive Man replied, waiting for her to turn around again before continuing. "The project will likely not be much shorter than it was for Shepard, but that depends on the material that you obtain and any prothean data that you or others come across. There is no telling how difficult it will be to deal with the Collectors. You will see this mission through with Shepard. _Then_, if the project is still ongoing, I'm willing to re-evaluate the need for you to stay with her. But not before," he added, trying to make her buy into the thought by appearing to hedge.

He would do no such thing, she knew it. She was stuck with this…What had she done wrong? Maybe nothing…maybe he _actually_ believed that she was best utilized in this capacity. Well, she sure as hell wasn't going to give him cause to doubt her abilities any more than he already did. Nothing was worth doing if it wasn't worth her best effort. "Can I at least monitor the progress?"

He appeared to think about it briefly, rubbing his thumb across an eyebrow and taking another drag. "You're likely to be busy, but I'll consider including you in the briefings when you're available," he finally said, favoring her with a ghost of a smile. "And they already have your contact information if there's something they need from you."

"Fine, thank you," Miranda said.

He watched her quietly until blinking out of existence when she walked back to the desk and terminated the connection.

* * *

"Dr. Travers," The Illusive Man said from his chair, his tone one of distinct displeasure in Kai Leng's ears as he silently came to a halt at the shoulder of his master.

"Lazarus is ready, sir," Travers replied, taking a step forward to separate himself from the three other scientists crammed into a small broadcast space, not showing any indication he had noticed the dangerous tone.

"Good. …Good," The Illusive Man replied, head twitching up slightly at the news. "Has he been activated?"

"No, sir," the doctor said without hesitation.

"I gave explicit orders."

"I'm not one of your robots, _sir_," the doctor spat out before catching himself, and continued in a softer tone. "I…we feel that it would be best to activate him in a familiar environment. As familiar as we can manage, at least," he added, irritably hissing something back at another scientist who'd opened her mouth to say something.

"Shepard didn't need any familiarization. Isn't the data we've injected enough?"

"With respect, Shepard was a human," the man replied, with very little respect in Kai Leng's estimate. "And also a real person. That's kind of significant. And you should know that we can't make do with just a simulated environment because of their abilities," he continued, almost with contempt.

The Illusive Man was quiet for a very long time, his expression unchanged as he examined the man in the projection as though a particularly interesting stone, calmly finishing a cigarette and lighting another one with a practiced flick of wrist before speaking again. "Fine. You're going to try to get him to Ilos?"

"That is one option, sir," the doctor said, unable to hide his pleasure at this victory, "but it is behind a heavy concentration of both allied and Reaper forces. We have an alternative. A large installation has been located on Eden Prime."

"An installation?" The Illusive Man asked calmly, surreptitiously calling up recent data and news on the planet on another screen.

"We're not sure what it actually was," another one of the scientists said from behind Travers. "It's definitely prothean, however, and _somewhat_ intact. And," he revealed their trump card, "it has a few artifact-class items if the report is to be believed."

"Alright. How soon can you move? I will provide additional troops for the—"

"We're already here, sir. We even managed to get one of the hibernation coffins working that Lawson obtained—"

"You are testing my patience, Travers," The Illusive Man said, leaning forward on his chair, jabbing the glowing end of his cigarette at the doctor. "How many men do you have?"

"Fifty, give or take, and three mechs. We _have to_ move quick, sir, there's no time to wait for additional—"

The Illusive Man cut the doctor's protestations off with a flick of his hand, leaving the man uncomfortably hanging waiting for a response while Annbel, the newest in a long line of gorgeous, tall, and blonde assistants, glided out of the shadows on the other side of the room, almost silent despite her heels as she strode past Kai Leng to fill the master's tumbler and replace his ashtray. Her smile vanished as she turned to exit, her look at Kai Leng as icily expressionless as her impeccable bun.

"Very well," The Illusive Man said when the door had closed behind Annbel. "You may proceed. I will send reinforcements in case there's any trouble. And Travers," he added, "do make sure to report the instant he is active. There's no time to lose."

* * *

**A/N: Relating to Chapter 3.**


	8. Beginnings

Jack leaned against the cold steel wall arms crossed, eyes directed studiously just away from the small group in front of her. The handrail along the wall was prodding her in the hip uncomfortably. She wasn't quite sure why she was lingering around, anyway. Shepard had made good on her promise, something Jack had still had doubts about after all this time. She was free, truly free maybe. She was on Omega with enough money to go wherever the fuck she wanted. Or stay a bit.

She lifted her gaze when movement drew her eye. Tali was finally disentangling herself from Liara—only to clamp back onto Shepard, who simply hugged the quarian back. Jack wasn't sure how the woman managed it, to be so fucking… nice. Although she had to admit it was a little strange to see Tali go, too. The quarian had been very persistent leaving food for her at the stairs, and trying to get her to talk whenever she was around the engineering area. Which is to say, _all the fucking time_. It had had pissed her off to no end for the first couple months, but she'd kinda gotten used to the girl and her incessant chatter.

At least the turian's face of exasperation was priceless as he waited for Shep and Blue to finally shoo the quarian off, even though his goodbyes had been lengthy, too. Didn't look like any of them were any happier about the separation but they at least knew the score. Shep had with great difficulty managed to twist Aria's arm so that she'd ensure the Alliance assholes coming on board to take over the _Normandy_ didn't get killed by the station people, and extracted a little time from the fuckers to make sure all of the crew got away. All the Cerberus staff and the other humans were already gone except for the clown up in the cockpit. The rest of the squad had said their fucking soppy goodbyes and promises to stay in touch and keep working on the threat… Jack was even finally rid of the goddamn Cerberus bitch, too. Garrus and Tali were the last ones to go. Jack didn't quite understand why they needed to flee, too, but guessed that it had to do with the batarian cock sucking politics of this shit.

She felt a small tingle on her left side as she gave a lazy wave to Garrus and Tali when the turian finally managed to pry the girl off and away toward their transports. She didn't need to look over to know it was the fucking Justicar. Now _that_ was one scary motherfucker. And powerful as all hell… needed a bit more than your average biotic hag to stir somebody else's nodules from a meter away. Jack had to give grudging respect to the old asari. Samara was one of the few people who would make her consider looking for a tactical advantage before attacking. And completely, one hundred percent off her fucking tits.

"Listen, ah, Jack," Shepard said, suddenly standing right in front of her, way inside Jack's personal zone but she let it go, only leaning back against the wall a little more. "I know you could give a fuck about the Alliance, but… you know what we face, and I think you'd be a tremendous asset. Plus I'd love to have you—"

"Dude, I am _not_ joining your little fucking nutcrackers," Jack spat out, surprised that Shep had even considered trying to keep her around, but definitely not interested in—

"Na, fuck _that_," the woman said, taking a quick glance at Liara at her side. "You remember Anderson? The guy who's taking over the ship."

"The old guy?"

"Well, I guess he _is_ old, too," Shepard said with a grin, "but I think you're thinking Admiral Hackett. Admiral Anderson, formerly Ambassador Anderson?"

"Yeah, what about it?" Jack asked, suspicious. She'd only seen the guy a couple times but apparently he and Shep went way back.

"He knows someone who's worked with biotics for a long time— No, hear me out!" Shepard snapped as Jack tried to interrupt her stupid idea. "She's done a lot of work with you guys. Even a couple complete fucknuts like you."

Jack grinned at the soldier's simple truthfulness before she got serious again. "No way in hell I'm gonna let some fucking labcoats around me, man. You _know_ what those—"

"It's not like that," Shepard said simply, confidently. "I trust Anderson. He says the woman's good people. It's not like it was. The whole biotics program is completely different now, and this lady's supposed to be some fucking Mother Theresa on top of that the way he talks about her."

"You could be _good_ if you trained," the Justicar said curtly from her post on the other side, returning Jack's furious glance impassively. From anyone else it would have been a head through a wall kind of insult, but…

Liara only gave her an encouraging nod in turn.

And, despite herself, Jack found that she trusted Shepard's judgment on this. …On most things, probably. "Fuck, man, I can—"

"Always torch the fucking place and take off if you don't like it," Shepard finished with a small smile. "Yeah, you can."

"I'll think about it," Jack said curtly as she pushed back with her shoulders to bounce herself off the wall, surprised with herself that she actually meant it.

"Good," Shepard replied with a nod. "Liara can put you up until you make up your mind. Or Kadzooks," she added, nodding to Jack's right.

"Jesus fuck, you freak, how do you _do_ that?" Jack growled as she saw the small woman standing barely a hair away from her, peeking at her from under that perpetual goddamn cowl. "Didn't I tell you to stop skulking?"

"Yep!" the thief agreed with a cheerful grin. "You can stay with me, it'll be awesome!"

"Yeah, awesome…" Jack muttered. At least you didn't get bored with Kasumi around. So there was that.

"We… uh, we have… have a favor to ask of you and Kasumi," Shepard said, uncomfortable as all hell. Jack looked her up and down and the woman was actually fucking shuffling her feet. "We would like for you two to be witnesses to our bond registration."

"Your _what_?"

"Oh… my… god. _…Are you getting hitched?_" Kasumi squealed just as Jack, too, caught on.

"…Yes, sort of," Shepard said, looking at Liara for support like a drowning man.

"We already are… hitched, as you say," the asari said with a shy smile, "but we wish to make it official."

"So, uh… it's today because… well, you know. And we'd like for you to be there since you're able to stay."

* * *

**A/N: To be continued. Happy celebrations of whatever kind you may or may not have.**


	9. One

"Is that a _new dress_?," Jack asked to the very confused Kasumi, changing topics from living arrangements completely out of the blue. Kasumi wasn't even _wearing_— "Damn, Kaz, you have no idea what kinda shit you started… next thing you know, she'll be flashing her panties every time she takes cover."

Following the biotic's eyes brought a little clarity to the question, but introduced a whole new level of amazement. Shepard was walking toward them, and not only was she wearing a new dress—and evidently walking with a rather graceful sway in heels—but it was a very pretty, flowing, empire-waisted, knee-length summer dress in a vibrant purple and finished off with a white belt. And a fu— and a purse.

"Damn," Kasumi agreed solemnly.

"Oh shut up, you two," Shepard muttered when she got to them, brushing her hair behind her ear. "Does it look OK?"

"You look good, Shep," Kasumi said earnestly. She did, too, and even Jack acknowledged it with a little nod just as Kasumi peered over Shepard's shoulder when she spotted the asari approaching. "Not as good as Liara, though," she added with a grin.

"Jesus fuck, I must have been a goddamn saint in my previous life," Shepard said in an awed hush as she turned to watch Liara make her way down the corridor. "I've no idea what I've done right to deserve this."

Kasumi couldn't fault the woman… the tall, beautiful asari was quite the sight walking toward them in a long, flowing, traditional dress of her people—that is to say, an extremely sensual one—of a white silken cloth with a gold stripe reaching from the low-cut neckline all the way to the floor. The doc was essentially born to look good in gold, Kasumi reflected when Liara stopped hesitantly a few meters away, barely acknowledging anyone but Shepard with her smile.

"Well go on, you idiot," Jack said, shoving Shepard toward Liara more or less gently. "We'll be in there."

Kasumi gave the biotic a little smile, receiving a roll of the eyes and a shake of the head in return as she grabbed Kasumi's shoulder and pulled her into the suite Shepard had arranged—probably via Aria—with a grumble about the _Normandy_ just not feeling right for this. Kasumi followed in, all too pleased to give the happy couple a few moments before they began… whatever this confirmation ceremony was. She still wasn't quite clear on that point.

The room they entered was quite impressive, with an enormous window overlooking most of Omega occupying the opposing wall. The decor was luxurious yet surprisingly understated, avoiding the tacky ostentatiousness Kasumi had frankly expected of an… well, anyone living here. Standing out from the normal furnishings a few pretty rugs had been spread out in the middle of the floor along with two thin cushions and an enormous pile of pillows forming a semi-circle around one of them. One of the cushions was smaller, only big enough for sitting, while the other one you could comfortably sleep on. They looked a little like prayer or meditation rugs, and whether they were from somewhere in the apartment or if Samara had brought them with her, Kasumi didn't know. Two comfortable-looking chairs sat next to eachother a few meters away from the cushions, immediately drawing Jack to slouch on one with her arms hanging off one side and legs off the other. They'd have to have words about wearing shoes inside, too…

The Justicar was standing quietly on the smaller cushion, back turned at the entrance and watching a projection of what looked like any government office anywhere—though the insignia of the Asari Republics clearly denoted the particular government in question and if the window was in fact a window, Kasumi was almost certain that the particular hue of the sky marked the location as Thessia itself. Just as she was about to dare to intrude on Samara to ask about the reason for the remote view, an asari in a formal dress strode into view and looked around what Kasumi assumed was her own projection until locating the Justicar.

"I must say that this is highly unorthodox," the asari said, evidently continuing a previous discussion while Kasumi and Jack looked on quietly. Samara stayed silent, just watching the bureaucrat with her hands clasped behind her back. "…But we will _of course_ accept your testimony, Justicar," the asari official added into the silence with a deferential traditional bow.

"Good. We will be ready whenever you are," Samara said with a small, approving upward curve of the corner of her mouth as she looked back at the arriving Shepard and Liara.

"It will be just a moment and one of the Registrars will be free to join us," the bureaucrat said to the Justicar's back. "I will record their identifications in the meanwhile."

Samara nodded without turning back, gesturing the pair to seat themselves on the cushion in front of her. As the two sat, both leaning on an arm and eachother on one side and legs folded on the other, she herself kneeled down and in a surprisingly maternal manner laid her hands on the sides of their necks. "You may begin now, and please…" she said as she looked first at Liara and then Shepard. "…If you like, you may stay seated, but I recommend whatever position you found comfortable when forming the bond. Go on, we are all adults here," she continued, carefully ignoring Kasumi's hard-won struggle against a titter.

Kasumi couldn't help but smile along as Liara and Shepard turned to eachother in synchrony. The woman nodded almost imperceptibly, eyes focused on nothing but Liara. Despite the flush of purple on her cheeks, the asari said something inaudible and leaned in for a kiss. Shepard wrapped her free arm around the asari's waist and slowly lowered both of them onto the cushion. Almost unconsciously the two bodies twined tightly together, legs around eachother's and heads resting on Shepard's arm as Liara's wrapped around the woman, the kiss unbroken even through quiet murmur.

The intimacy seemed to make even Jack a bit hot under the collar when Kasumi stole a quick glance at her but, just as she turned her eyes back, Liara and Shepard fell completely silent and unmoving as they had lain. The Justicar rolled herself into a cross-legged sit, and leaned forward enough to touch her hands on Liara's ankle. Her eyes flashed through a bright bluish white into dark obsidian and then she, too, became completely still. Almost a minute Kasumi and Jack just stared at them in silence, something about the perfection capturing their attention indivisibly.

"You _may_ speak, you know" a voice said unexpectedly, breaking the spell. As Kasumi looked up, she noticed a second, much older asari in the projection. A matriarch, definitely. "They are not… here, if you will. You cannot disturb them," she added, giving the two humans a small bow at the same time.

Kasumi realized she'd even been breathing quietly as though in some infinitely echoing church, but still only managed a nod.

"What the fuck _is_ this?" Jack asked quietly, the swearing probably more out of habit than for actual emphasis.

The two asari shared a glance before the new arrival—who must have been one of the Registrars mentioned—turned her eyes back at Kasumi and Jack, directing her words at the both of them. "I am unsure how familiar you are with the concept of the Meld… but in short, an asari may join her consciousness with another willing person."

Jack merely raised an eyebrow, but Kasumi found herself edging a little forward on her seat. She'd certainly heard a lot about it, though how much was true, she didn't know.

"The Bond is a… much deeper union. A pair may choose to form the Bond, to become bondmates. This may be at any time, and happens just between the two of them," the Registrar continued, "but many choose to register their relationship officially as well. Because the Bond grants many privileges, it is always verified at registration."

"That's where you come in?" Kasumi guessed, still hushed despite her best effort to stop. "How-"

"Correct. Like I said, a Bond is a much, much deeper relationship," the asari said with a small smile. "While Melding and Joining in particular is often referred to as _becoming one_, it isn't quite that. It can feel like it, but isn't. A Bond is. So, while normally an asari may only Meld with one person…"

"…She can Meld with two when they two are Bonded, because they're actually _one person_," Kasumi said, quietly now because of the profoundness of the thought. To think of truly being one…

"Precisely," the Registrar said with a broader smile. "And the ability for me to do so proves the Bond, and it can be registered. That is _usually_ where I and my colleagues come in, with the bondmates visiting one of the Registration offices. You have discovered the single exception to that requirement… a Justicar's word is unimpeachable and as such we can accept their testimony of the Bond. This happens very rarely, Justicars being how they are. It's… quite an honor."

"How long does it take?" Jack asked, breaking her contemplative silence. To Kasumi's surprise, it sounded like she was asking out of curiosity rather than boredom.

"It can take a few hours," the Registrar replied. "It's not _easy_, Melding into a Bond. The older and more experienced the Matriarch Registrar, the quicker it is. For someone like the Justicar, it probably won't be long. I meant what I said, however," she continued. "Nothing reasonable you do will disturb them, so feel free to walk, talk, eat. We usually do not have… witnesses, I think the word was, that's a human custom. But I assure you it is not in any way disrespectful."

With that the Registrar muted the channel for a moment with an apology, and started discussing something with the other asari, leaving Kasumi and Jack staring at eachother.

"Well, I'm going to see if I can find some food, I'm fucking starving," the biotic opined after a moment, and jumped off to disappear somewhere in the bowels of the apartment.

Kasumi sat in place for a moment before gingerly getting up and padding over to the three still forms. She didn't dare go too close, but watched them for a moment, only deep, even breaths breaking the perfect silence. She smiled a faraway smile before getting up and walking over to the window. She stared over the city unseen, lost in her thoughts of the past… the grief, the regret, and even the cruel tendrils of jealousy. Alone with her hot tears until Jack nudged her in the elbow and pushed a glass of wine in her hand. The two stood there for an untold time, staring over the city, their silence melding with that of the others.

She didn't know how long she'd stood there slowly working her way back toward happiness with the biotic at her side, when she heard a small sound from behind them. She set her long-empty glass on the windowsill and gave Jack an appreciative smile as she turned back to the center of the room to find Samara pushing herself off the floor, and Liara and Shepard moving slowly, opening their blinking eyes to gaze into eachother's.

The Justicar simply nodded at the two asari in the projection as Kasumi and Jack walked up to her.

"Liara T'Soni and Eevy Shepard," the Registrar said with a smile at the couple still in eachother's arms on the cushion, their lips still touching, "on this day of January 30th 2186, your Bond is recognized by the Asari Republics and thereby the Council and all of the species in this galaxy. The Goddess has smiled."

* * *

**A/N: Another little present for you. Obviously continues from the 7th, but the focus of that one was slightly different so these belonged in two separate chapters.**

**There'll likely be a third part to this—or more precisely, a retelling of this part from the perspective of one of the bondmates—but it may be on the Unity side, not sure yet. Next Coherence is something different. Also, there might be a ****_–cough–_**** fourth part eventually too…**


End file.
